Intuitive Surgical for President

• Report this Comment On October 18, 2008, at 5:35 PM, DrBob66 wrote:

  At P/E of 37 for about 35% earnings growth, I would hardly call it cheap...especially in this market. If ISRG gets down to about 150, I might think about buying some...but not until then.

• Report this Comment On November 02, 2008, at 1:43 PM, GoNuke wrote:

  Just remember Fool that the US health costs are double that of other countries. The Da Vinci system only makes economic sense in the US because surgeons are so grossly overpaid.

  You guys need to get out more. Before shooting your mouths off about exports review the relative costs of surgery in these export markets. Is the Da Vinci machine competitive there. Do the math first then give advice.

• Report this Comment On November 02, 2008, at 4:49 PM, GoNuke wrote:

  Exerpts from two different articles regarding cost experience: one from the UK, one from the US.

  There are currently 400 da Vinci systems the United States

  compared to seven in the UK; this corresponds to one system

  per 750,000 of the US population compared to one in

  15 million in the UK. DiVerences in the structures of the

  health systems in both countries partially account for this

  discrepancy. In the UK at present only large training centres

  are able to purchase da Vinci systems, often with the

  support of large charitable organisations [22]; however,

  there is increasing interest from the private sector. The current

  cost of the da Vinci system is £700,000 ($1.2 million).

  This is not the only cost; annual maintenance is £70,000

  ($138,000). The instrument cost of a typical roboticassisted

  prostatectomy case at Guy’s Hospital, London is

  around £1,000 ($1,700), with an additional £650 ($1,100)

  for consumables, compared to £950 ($1,600) for laparoscopic

  radical prostatectomy and £670 for open radical prostatectomy

  The da Vinci ™Robotic System (dVRS) is the

  latest advancement in laparoscopic surgery allowing the

  surgeon more accurate and precise control of instrumentation

  with an added three-dimensional image. Technology

  comes with a price, $1.3 million. Due to charitable contributions

  from the Durham family, the University of

  Nebraska was the eighth Medical Center in the USA to

  obtain a dVRS in June 2000. UNMC analyzed 224 dVRS

  surgical procedures from July 2000 to February 2007.

  These procedures were designated by surgical service and

  further scrutinized for length of stay, and cost. We also

  reviewed trends in operative usage, academic and public

  relations components with this innovative technology. The

  dVRS was used for multiple other purposes that were bene-

  Wcial including research with engineering graduate students,

  training for surgical residents, display and demos as

  a means for public relations. Primarily general and urologic

  surgeons utilized the dVRS. General surgeons were the

  early adopters of the new technology, the greatest growth

  and utilization of the equipment has been in urologic procedures,

  which has outpaced general surgery in the past year.

  Cost analysis shows a subtle beneWt with a reduced length

  of stay by an average of 4 days. Average direct costs were

  found to be greater with the dVRS by $1,470. Overall, the

  eVects of the dVRS are vast reaching and are fundamental

  to the growth of an academic institution and continued progress

  in minimally invasive surgery.

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